Worthy of note is the fact that both Kryst and Garris refused to straighten their hair for the pageant. In fact, Garris’ coily hair was such a huge topic of discussion on social media.

Miss Teen USA, Garris

Garris told Refinery21 that while some people tried to convince her to straighten her hair for the Miss Teen USA competition, she opted for her natural curls because when she’s wearing them, she feels confident.